Current affairs

Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex is put on trial for failing to put an end to the rebellion in Ireland, attempting to negotiate a truce with the rebel leader Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, and deserting his post. Charles Blount, Lord Mountjoy, replaces Essex as Lord Deputy of Ireland.The East India Company receives its Royal Charter by Queen Elizabeth I.Birth of Prince Charles in Scotland (later King Charles I).

Art and science

William Shakespeare writes Hamlet.The scientist William Gilbert writes De magnete ('on the magnet'), which pioneers research into the properties of the lodestone (magnetic iron ore) and introduces the terms 'electricity' and 'magnetic pole'. The miniature painter Nicholas Hilliard works on his painting treatise The Art of Limning at this time.

International

Henry IV of France marries Marie de Medici from the powerful ruling family of Florence, Italy. The Italian astronomer, philosopher and mathematician Giordano Bruno is sentenced to death by the Roman Inquisition and burned at the stake for heresy.Following the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Tokugawa Ieyasu seizes control of Japan at the Battle of Sekigahara.

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